Philipp von Stosch
Encyclopedia
Baron Philipp von Stosch (22 March 1691 – 7 November 1757) was a Prussian
antiquarian
who lived in Rome
and Florence
.
Stosch was born in Küstrin
in the Neumark
region of Brandenburg
. In 1709, with the blessings of his father, a successful artist who became Mayor (German: Bürgermeister) of Küstrin
, Stosch began a tour of Holland, France
, and England
, which eventually led him to Italy
. In Rome, a letter of introduction brought him into the circle of Pope Clement XI
, a collector and connoisseur of antiquities. Soon he developed a close friendship with the cardinal-nephew
, Alessandro Albani. Called home with the death of his elder brother in 1717, Stosch began a series of broader European journeys.
Once again in Rome, Stosch became a dealer in art and antiquities at the center of the antiquarian group that were commissioning excavations in search of works of art. Above all he was a collector of engraved gems of antiquity, books and manuscripts, early engravings and drawings and reputedly a connoisseur of Roman boys. He financed his passions by some unorthodox means, including spying on the Jacobite
court in Rome for Sir Robert Walpole
's British Government. Stosch was unmasked as a clandestine operative in 1731, and his life was threatened. He was forced to flee the Papal States
and took refuge in Florence, under the tolerant rule of Grand Duke Gian Gastone de' Medici. There he settled into a long retirement devoted to connoisseurship, pensioned by the British until he died in 1757. Before long his growing collection required a separate house of its own. (ref. Datenbank Altertumswissenschaften)
Stosch was a founder of a Masonic Lodge
in Florence in 1733, that became a direct concern of Rome, leading to the ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons. The first papal ban of Freemasonry, issued by the Florentine-born Pope Clement XII
, was not based on any ideological objection to Freemasonry, as is often supposed. In the wake of the 1738 bull Clement's cardinal-nephew Neri Corsini
, wrote stressing that Freemasonry in England was merely an innocent amusement; the main objection, according to Corsini, was that the lodge in Florence had become "corrupt". His house became a center for spiritual inquiry of a Rosicrucian
, alchemical-panphilosophical nature. The lodge was closed and Tommaso Crudeli was imprisoned.
He encouraged young German artists, not merely those who illustrated his own works but others, like Johann Lorenz Natter (1705-1763), a German gem-engraver and medalist whom Stosch set to copying ancient carved gems in Florence and whose Masonic medal commemorating the Mastership of Charles Sackville, 1733, was engraved and widely distributed (ref. Pelizzi). Versions of it exist in gold and in silver; the Grand Duke apparently got a silver one, now at the Bargello
.
Stosch is credited with making the monocle
fashionable, but as a connoisseur, Stosch made his lasting impression with a great volume on the subject of Gemmæ Antiquæ Cælatæ (Pierres antiques graveés) (1724), in which Bernard Picart
's engravings reproduced seventy antique carved hardstones like onyx
, jasper
and carnelian
from European collections, a volume of inestimable value to antiquarians and historians. It immediately joined the repertory of books of engravings after antiquities of all kinds, which were an essential part of eighteenth century classical studies and informed the Neoclassical styles
that got under way shortly after Stosch's death. It was given an English translation by George Ogle that went into several editions. At Burton Constable
, Yorkshire, the Dining Room overmantel relief executed in the 1760s features Bacchus and Ariadne riding on a panther, modeled on a cameo from the volume. Dozens of other Palladian and Neoclassical uses of the Stosch volume might be instanced.
The baron's own great collection eventually contained over 10,000 cameos, intaglios, and antique glass pastes, the majority of which eventually went to the museums in Berlin
. The hardstone carvings among his collections, which rivaled numismatics
for their interest to antiquarians, were engraved and entrusted for publication to Winckelmann. Winckelmann's work was underwritten by Baron von Stosch's nephew and heir, Heinrich Wilhelm Muselius, another lifelong bachelor, who had come to stay in Florence with Stosch in 1757 and had been adopted and made Philipp von Stosch's heir (ref. Universitätsbibliothek Trier).Thus he was looking for prospective purchasers of his uncle's collection just at this moment.
Winckelmann's last letter, penned in the Trieste inn the night he was murdered by a young man he had just picked up, was addressed to Muselius-Stosch. In 1765 King Frederick the Great eventually purchased the greatest part of the collection, for 20 or 30,000 Reichsthaler
and an annuity of 400 Reichsthaler (refs. Datenbank Altertumswissenschaften, Universitätsbibliothek Trier); so the engraved gems came to rest in the Berlin museums. Description des Pierres gravées provided subjects for the familiar Neoclassical
jasperware medallions in low relief, against green or blue grounds, which were produced in great number by Josiah Wedgwood
. Individual figures were re-engraved for Gentleman's Magazine and found their way into Neoclassical marquetry medallions on London-made furniture and other minor decorative arts.
Among other elements in the dispersed collections, the Atlas—of 324 volumes— in which Stosch kept his drawings, among other things the entire cache of drawings left by the Baroque architect Borromini, which Stosch acquired about 1730, before his withdrawal to Florence (ref. Connors), eventually went to Vienna. His considerable library, strong in "history, politics, diplomacy, conclaves, embassies and relazioni from distant parts" (Connors), was purchased in 1759 for the Vatican Library
where it is housed with the then recently-purchased Ottoboni library (and bear the shelfmarks Ottob.lat. 2565-3100). One of the codices, containing important musical notation, which had belonged to Queen Christina and was given by her to the Vatican Library, was stolen and appeared in Stosch's library, when was then sold to the Vatican in 1759 and thus was returned (ref. Ottoboni Lat. 3025).(Particularly valuable early prints found individual purchasers: Stosch's group of niello
prints attributed to Tommaso di Finiguerra were bought by the Leipzig merchant Ernst Peter Otto (1724-99), whose celebrated print collection was dispersed in massive sales in 1851-52.
Some of his medals were acquired by unconventional means. According to an anecdote related by Isaac d'Israeli
,
In 1764 some of his collections were sold at auction, his architectural drawings, strong in sixteenth century architects, went to enrich the Albertina, Vienna
. The Codex Stosch, a bound volume of measured drawings of ancient Roman buildings made by the brother of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
, disappeared after the sale. The codex reappeared in 2005 and was purchased for the RIBA Library, London
.
His profile portrait appears on a medal he commissioned from François Marteau in 1727
His widely circulated letters on antiquarian subjects were reassembled in Carl Justi, Antiquarische Briefe des Baron Philipp von Stosch (1871).
Baron Von Stosch, after his death in Florence, was inhumated in the Old English Cemetery
in Livorno
, where his grave, still existing, is badly damaged.
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
who lived in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
.
Stosch was born in Küstrin
Küstrin
Before 1945 Küstrin was a town in the former Prussian province of Brandenburg in Germany, situated on both sides of the Oder river...
in the Neumark
Neumark
Neumark comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany.Neumark may also refer to:* Neumark, Thuringia* Neumark, Saxony* Neumark * Nowe Miasto Lubawskie or Neumark, a town in Poland, situated at river Drwęca...
region of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
. In 1709, with the blessings of his father, a successful artist who became Mayor (German: Bürgermeister) of Küstrin
Küstrin
Before 1945 Küstrin was a town in the former Prussian province of Brandenburg in Germany, situated on both sides of the Oder river...
, Stosch began a tour of Holland, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, which eventually led him to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In Rome, a letter of introduction brought him into the circle of Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI , born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 1700 until his death in 1721.-Early life:...
, a collector and connoisseur of antiquities. Soon he developed a close friendship with the cardinal-nephew
Cardinal-nephew
A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a Pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...
, Alessandro Albani. Called home with the death of his elder brother in 1717, Stosch began a series of broader European journeys.
Once again in Rome, Stosch became a dealer in art and antiquities at the center of the antiquarian group that were commissioning excavations in search of works of art. Above all he was a collector of engraved gems of antiquity, books and manuscripts, early engravings and drawings and reputedly a connoisseur of Roman boys. He financed his passions by some unorthodox means, including spying on the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
court in Rome for Sir Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
's British Government. Stosch was unmasked as a clandestine operative in 1731, and his life was threatened. He was forced to flee the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
and took refuge in Florence, under the tolerant rule of Grand Duke Gian Gastone de' Medici. There he settled into a long retirement devoted to connoisseurship, pensioned by the British until he died in 1757. Before long his growing collection required a separate house of its own. (ref. Datenbank Altertumswissenschaften)
Stosch was a founder of a Masonic Lodge
History of Freemasonry
The history of Freemasonry studies the development, evolution and events of the fraternal organization known as Freemasonry. This history is generally separated into two time periods: before and after the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717...
in Florence in 1733, that became a direct concern of Rome, leading to the ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons. The first papal ban of Freemasonry, issued by the Florentine-born Pope Clement XII
Pope Clement XII
Pope Clement XII , born Lorenzo Corsini, was Pope from 12 July 1730 to 6 February 1740.Born in Florence, the son of Bartolomeo Corsini, Marquis of Casigliano and his wife Isabella Strozzi, sister of the Duke of Bagnuolo, Corsini had been an aristocratic lawyer and financial manager under preceding...
, was not based on any ideological objection to Freemasonry, as is often supposed. In the wake of the 1738 bull Clement's cardinal-nephew Neri Corsini
Neri Maria Corsini
Neri Maria Corsini was an Italian nobleman and nephew of pope Clement XII, who made him a cardinal in pectore at the consistory of 14 August 1730 - his creation as cardinal was made public in December 1730. He exercised several roles in the Roman Curia, notably the Supreme Tribunal of the...
, wrote stressing that Freemasonry in England was merely an innocent amusement; the main objection, according to Corsini, was that the lodge in Florence had become "corrupt". His house became a center for spiritual inquiry of a Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
, alchemical-panphilosophical nature. The lodge was closed and Tommaso Crudeli was imprisoned.
He encouraged young German artists, not merely those who illustrated his own works but others, like Johann Lorenz Natter (1705-1763), a German gem-engraver and medalist whom Stosch set to copying ancient carved gems in Florence and whose Masonic medal commemorating the Mastership of Charles Sackville, 1733, was engraved and widely distributed (ref. Pelizzi). Versions of it exist in gold and in silver; the Grand Duke apparently got a silver one, now at the Bargello
Bargello
The Bargello, also known as the Bargello Palace or Palazzo del Popolo is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy.-Terminology:...
.
Stosch is credited with making the monocle
Monocle
A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the vision in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string. The other end of the string is then connected to the wearer's clothing to avoid losing...
fashionable, but as a connoisseur, Stosch made his lasting impression with a great volume on the subject of Gemmæ Antiquæ Cælatæ (Pierres antiques graveés) (1724), in which Bernard Picart
Bernard Picart
Bernard Picart , was a French engraver, son of Etienne Picart, also an engraver. He was born in Paris and died in Amsterdam. He moved to Antwerp in 1696, and then spent a year in Amsterdam before returning to France at the end of 1698...
's engravings reproduced seventy antique carved hardstones like onyx
Onyx
Onyx is a banded variety of chalcedony. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx contain bands of black and/or white.-Etymology:...
, jasper
Jasper
Jasper, a form of chalcedony, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for...
and carnelian
Carnelian
Carnelian is a brownish-red mineral which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker...
from European collections, a volume of inestimable value to antiquarians and historians. It immediately joined the repertory of books of engravings after antiquities of all kinds, which were an essential part of eighteenth century classical studies and informed the Neoclassical styles
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
that got under way shortly after Stosch's death. It was given an English translation by George Ogle that went into several editions. At Burton Constable
Burton Constable
Burton Constable is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located approximately north east of Hull city centre and south east of the village of Skirlaugh....
, Yorkshire, the Dining Room overmantel relief executed in the 1760s features Bacchus and Ariadne riding on a panther, modeled on a cameo from the volume. Dozens of other Palladian and Neoclassical uses of the Stosch volume might be instanced.
The baron's own great collection eventually contained over 10,000 cameos, intaglios, and antique glass pastes, the majority of which eventually went to the museums in Berlin
Berlin State Museums
The Berlin State Museums, in German Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, are a group of museums in Berlin, Germany overseen by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and funded by the German federal government in collaboration with Germany's federal states...
. The hardstone carvings among his collections, which rivaled numismatics
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
for their interest to antiquarians, were engraved and entrusted for publication to Winckelmann. Winckelmann's work was underwritten by Baron von Stosch's nephew and heir, Heinrich Wilhelm Muselius, another lifelong bachelor, who had come to stay in Florence with Stosch in 1757 and had been adopted and made Philipp von Stosch's heir (ref. Universitätsbibliothek Trier).Thus he was looking for prospective purchasers of his uncle's collection just at this moment.
Winckelmann's last letter, penned in the Trieste inn the night he was murdered by a young man he had just picked up, was addressed to Muselius-Stosch. In 1765 King Frederick the Great eventually purchased the greatest part of the collection, for 20 or 30,000 Reichsthaler
Reichsthaler
The Reichsthaler was a standard Thaler of the Holy Roman Empire, established in 1566 by the Leipzig convention. It was also the name of a unit of account in northern Germany and of a silver coin issued by Prussia.-Reichsthaler coin:...
and an annuity of 400 Reichsthaler (refs. Datenbank Altertumswissenschaften, Universitätsbibliothek Trier); so the engraved gems came to rest in the Berlin museums. Description des Pierres gravées provided subjects for the familiar Neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
jasperware medallions in low relief, against green or blue grounds, which were produced in great number by Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, founder of the Wedgwood company, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family...
. Individual figures were re-engraved for Gentleman's Magazine and found their way into Neoclassical marquetry medallions on London-made furniture and other minor decorative arts.
Among other elements in the dispersed collections, the Atlas—of 324 volumes— in which Stosch kept his drawings, among other things the entire cache of drawings left by the Baroque architect Borromini, which Stosch acquired about 1730, before his withdrawal to Florence (ref. Connors), eventually went to Vienna. His considerable library, strong in "history, politics, diplomacy, conclaves, embassies and relazioni from distant parts" (Connors), was purchased in 1759 for the Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
where it is housed with the then recently-purchased Ottoboni library (and bear the shelfmarks Ottob.lat. 2565-3100). One of the codices, containing important musical notation, which had belonged to Queen Christina and was given by her to the Vatican Library, was stolen and appeared in Stosch's library, when was then sold to the Vatican in 1759 and thus was returned (ref. Ottoboni Lat. 3025).(Particularly valuable early prints found individual purchasers: Stosch's group of niello
Niello
Niello is a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal...
prints attributed to Tommaso di Finiguerra were bought by the Leipzig merchant Ernst Peter Otto (1724-99), whose celebrated print collection was dispersed in massive sales in 1851-52.
Some of his medals were acquired by unconventional means. According to an anecdote related by Isaac d'Israeli
Isaac D'Israeli
Isaac D'Israeli was a British writer, scholar and man of letters. He is best known for his essays, his associations with other men of letters, and for being the father of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli....
,
It was in looking over the gems of the royal cabinet of medals, that the keeper perceived the loss of one; his place, his pension, and his reputation were at stake; and he insisted that Baron Stosch should be most minutely examined: in this dilemma, forced to confession, this erudite collector assured the keeper of the royal cabinet, that the strictest search would not avail “Alas, sir! I have it here within,” he said, pointing to his breast. An emetic was suggested by the learned practitioner himself, probably from some former experiment.
In 1764 some of his collections were sold at auction, his architectural drawings, strong in sixteenth century architects, went to enrich the Albertina, Vienna
Albertina, Vienna
The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well as more modern graphic works, photographs and architectural drawings...
. The Codex Stosch, a bound volume of measured drawings of ancient Roman buildings made by the brother of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
thumb|250px|The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the [[Trajan's Market]] in [[Rome]], considered Sangallo's masterwork.thumb|250px|View of St. Patrick's Well in [[Orvieto]]....
, disappeared after the sale. The codex reappeared in 2005 and was purchased for the RIBA Library, London
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
.
His profile portrait appears on a medal he commissioned from François Marteau in 1727
His widely circulated letters on antiquarian subjects were reassembled in Carl Justi, Antiquarische Briefe des Baron Philipp von Stosch (1871).
Baron Von Stosch, after his death in Florence, was inhumated in the Old English Cemetery
Old English Cemetery, Livorno
The Old English Cemetery is a cemetery in Livorno, central Italy, located in a plot of land near the Via Verdi, close to the Waldensian Church and to the formerly Anglican church of St. George...
in Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
, where his grave, still existing, is badly damaged.
Further reading
- Lesley Lewis, "Philipp von Stosch", in Apollo, 63, LXXXV, 1967, pp 320–327
- J.J.L. Whiteley, 1999. "Philipp von Stosch, Bernard Picart and the Gemmae Antiquae Caelatae", in Classicism to Neo-classicism: Essays dedicated to Gertrud Seidmann edited by Martin Henig and Dimitris Plantzos. ISBN 1-84171-030-X
- Peter and Hilde Zazoff, 1983. Gemmensammler und Gemmenforscher : Von einer noblen Passion zur Wissenschaft (Munich: Beck Verlag) ISBN 3-406-08895-3
- Joern Lang, Netzwerke von Gelehrten: Eine Skizze antiquarischer Interaktion am Beispiel des Philipp von Stosch (1691–1757), in: J. Broch – M. Rassiller – D. Scholl (Hrsg.), Netzwerke der Moderne. Erkundungen und Strategien. Würzburg 2007 (= FORUM – Studien zur Moderneforschung 3) pp. 203–226.
- Erika Zwierlein-Diehl, Glaspasten im Martin-von Wagner-Museum der Universitaet Würzburg (1986) p 12.